499 research outputs found
Systematic Screening for Behavior in K–12 Settings as Regular School Practice: Practical Considerations and Recommendations
There is a priority for schools to address students’ social and emotional needs as we do academic learning. Tiered models of prevention provide a framework for teaching social skills and behavioral expectations, as well as academics, with positive, proactive, evidence-based practices. Central to responding to students’ needs is accurate measurement of their performance. Systematic screening for behavior addresses this need. Practical considerations and recommendations are offered for school leadership teams as they plan for using systematic behavior screening as a regular school practice. The paper was framed within tiered models of prevention, however, screening practices may be used outside of tiered models provided structures are in place for responding to student needs when detected. Content is offered to guide school leadership teams as they undertake systematic behavior screening efforts.
Key words: systematic behavior screening, K-12, tiered prevention modelsOffice of Special Education Programs U.S. Department of Education (H326S980003)Institute of Education Sciences Partnership Grant (R305H150018
Analysis of the tunicamycin biosynthetic gene cluster of streptomyces chartreusis reveals new insights into tunicamycin production and immunity
The tunicamycin biosynthetic gene cluster of Streptomyces chartreusis consists of 14 genes (tunA to tunN) with a high degree of apparent translational coupling. Transcriptional analysis revealed that all of these genes are likely to be transcribed as a single operon from two promoters, tunp1 and tunp2. In-frame deletion analysis revealed that just six of these genes (tunABCDEH) are essential for tunicamycin production in the heterologous host Streptomyces coelicolor, while five (tunFGKLN) with likely counterparts in primary metabolism are not necessary, but presumably ensure efficient production of the antibiotic at the onset of tunicamycin biosynthesis. Three genes are implicated in immunity, namely, tunI and tunJ, which encode a two-component ABC transporter presumably required for export of the antibiotic, and tunM, which encodes a putative S-adenosylmethionine (SAM)-dependent methyltransferase. Expression of tunIJ or tunM in S. coelicolor conferred resistance to exogenous tunicamycin. The results presented here provide new insights into tunicamycin biosynthesis and immunity
Analysis of the Fusion Hindrance in Mass-symmetric Heavy Ion Reactions
The fusion hindrance, which is also denominated by the term extra-push, is
studied on mass-symmetric systems by the use of the liquid drop model with the
two-center parameterization. Following the idea that the fusion hindrance
exists only if the liquid drop barrier (saddle point) is located at the inner
side of the contact point after overcoming the outer Coulomb barrier, the
reactions in which two barriers are overlapped with each other are determined.
It is shown that there are many systems where the fusion hindrance does not
exist for the atomic number of projectile or target nucleus , while
for , all of the mass-symmetric reactions are fusion-hindered.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures. to be published in Sci. in China
New constraints on atmospheric CO2 concentration for the Phanerozoic
Earth's atmospheric CO2 concentration (ca) for the Phanerozoic Eon is estimated from proxies and geochemical carbon cycle models. Most estimates come with large, sometimes unbounded uncertainty. Here, we calculate tightly constrained estimates of ca using a universal equation for leaf gas exchange, with key variables obtained directly from the carbon isotope composition and stomatal anatomy of fossil leaves. Our new estimates, validated against ice cores and direct measurements of ca, are less than 1000 ppm for most of the Phanerozoic, from the Devonian to the present, coincident with the appearance and global proliferation of forests. Uncertainties, obtained from Monte Carlo simulations, are typically less than for ca estimates from other approaches. These results provide critical new empirical support for the emerging view that large (~2000-3000 ppm), long-term swings in ca do not characterize the post-Devonian and that Earth's long-term climate sensitivity to ca is greater than originally thought. Key Points A novel CO2 proxy calculates past atmospheric CO2 with improved certainty CO2 is unlikely to have exceeded ~1000 ppm for extended periods post Devonian Earth's long-term climate sensitivity to CO2 is greater than originally thought
Beyond element-wise interactions: identifying complex interactions in biological processes
Background: Biological processes typically involve the interactions of a number of elements (genes, cells) acting on each others. Such processes are often modelled as networks whose nodes are the elements in question and edges pairwise relations between them (transcription, inhibition). But more often than not, elements actually work cooperatively or competitively to achieve a task. Or an element can act on the interaction between two others, as in the case of an enzyme controlling a reaction rate. We call “complex” these types of interaction and propose ways to identify them from time-series observations.
Methodology: We use Granger Causality, a measure of the interaction between two signals, to characterize the influence of an enzyme on a reaction rate. We extend its traditional formulation to the case of multi-dimensional signals in order to capture group interactions, and not only element interactions. Our method is extensively tested on simulated data and applied to three biological datasets: microarray data of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast, local field potential recordings of two brain areas and a metabolic reaction.
Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that complex Granger causality can reveal new types of relation between signals and is particularly suited to biological data. Our approach raises some fundamental issues of the systems biology approach since finding all complex causalities (interactions) is an NP hard problem
The nature of point source fringes in mid-infrared spectra acquired with the James Webb Space Telescope
The constructive and destructive interference in different layers of the
James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) detector
arrays modulate the detected signal as a function of wavelength. Additionally,
sources of different spatial profiles show different fringe patterns. Dividing
by a static fringe flat could hamper the scientific interpretation of sources
whose fringes do not match that of the fringe flat. We find point source
fringes measured by the MIRI Medium-Resolution Spectrometer (MRS) to be
reproducible under similar observing conditions. We want, thus, to identify the
variables, if they exist, that would allow for a parametrization of the signal
variations induced by point source fringe modulations. We do this by analyzing
MRS detector plane images acquired on the ground. We extracted the fringe
profile of multiple point source observations and studied the amplitude and
phase of the fringes as a function of field position and pixel sampling of the
point spread function of the optical chain. A systematic variation in the
amplitude and phase of the point source fringes is found over the wavelength
range covered by the test sources (4.9-5.8 m). The variation depends on
the fraction of the point spread function seen by the detector pixel. We
identify the non-uniform pixel illumination as the root cause of the reported
systematic variation. We report an improvement after correction of 50% on the
1 standard deviation of the spectral continuum. A 50% improvement is
also reported in line sensitivity for a benchmark test with a spectral
continuum of 100 mJy. The improvement in the shape of weak lines is illustrated
using a T Tauri model spectrum. Consequently, we verify that fringes of
extended sources and potentially semi-extended sources and crowded fields can
be simulated by combining multiple point source fringe transmissions.Comment: 17 pages, 31 figure
The camera of the fifth H.E.S.S. telescope. Part I: System description
In July 2012, as the four ground-based gamma-ray telescopes of the H.E.S.S.
(High Energy Stereoscopic System) array reached their tenth year of operation
in Khomas Highlands, Namibia, a fifth telescope took its first data as part of
the system. This new Cherenkov detector, comprising a 614.5 m^2 reflector with
a highly pixelized camera in its focal plane, improves the sensitivity of the
current array by a factor two and extends its energy domain down to a few tens
of GeV.
The present part I of the paper gives a detailed description of the fifth
H.E.S.S. telescope's camera, presenting the details of both the hardware and
the software, emphasizing the main improvements as compared to previous
H.E.S.S. camera technology.Comment: 16 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in NIM
Spectroscopic survey of the Galaxy with Gaia I. Design and performance of the Radial Velocity Spectrometer
The definition and optimisation studies for the Gaia satellite spectrograph,
the Radial Velocity Spectrometer (RVS), converged in late 2002 with the
adoption of the instrument baseline. This paper reviews the characteristics of
the selected configuration and presents its expected performance. The RVS is a
2.0 by 1.6 degree integral field spectrograph, dispersing the light of all
sources entering its field of view with a resolving power R=11 500 over the
wavelength range [848, 874] nm. The RVS will continuously and repeatedly scan
the sky during the 5 years of the Gaia mission. On average, each source will be
observed 102 times over this period. The RVS will collect the spectra of about
100-150 million stars up to magnitude V~17-18. At the end of the mission, the
RVS will provide radial velocities with precisions of ~2 km/s at V=15 and
\~15-20 km/s at V=17, for a solar metallicity G5 dwarf. The RVS will also
provide rotational velocities, with precisions (at the end of the mission) for
late type stars of sigma_vsini ~5 km/s at V~15 as well as atmospheric
parameters up to V~14-15. The individual abundances of elements such as Silicon
and Magnesium, vital for the understanding of Galactic evolution, will be
obtained up to V~12-13. Finally, the presence of the 862.0 nm Diffuse
Interstellar Band (DIB) in the RVS wavelength range will make it possible to
derive the three dimensional structure of the interstellar reddening.Comment: 17 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS. Fig. 1,2,4,5,
6 in degraded resolution; available in full resolution at
http://blackwell-synergy.com/links/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2966.2004.08282.x/pd
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